Hey y'all, so I've gotten three plants for Christmas, one sarracenia purpurea and two Venus flytraps. The sarracenia and one of the flytraps are healthy, but one is not. I'm new to these, but this is my plan:
Sarracenia: I was told it was under grow lights indoors, but I believe it needs dormancy. I've put it in a colder room (50°ish F) next to a window to acclimate it and I plan on leaving it there for a week before moving it into my garage. I'm in zone 6a so I'm a little scared but Ive heard sarracenia are hardier so I'm hoping it'll be fine.
Happy VFT: This one was with the sarracenia, so it was under the same conditions. Again, I think it needs dormancy so I've moved it with the sarracenia. This time though I'm scared of leaving it in the garage since it can often get below freezing here, so I was planning on doing fridge method.
Sad VFT: This one I'm scared won't make it through dormancy. When I got it the dirt was very dry, and it wasn't getting too much sun. Currently, I've watered it/is sitting on a tray with distilled water and is under a grow light 9 hours a day.
Questions:
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Is this the right move for the sarracenia? In my excitement, I repotted it with a mix of peat moss and perlite, and a bit of sphagnum moss. Can it get shocked and die? Do I even move it to the garage or should I keep it here? Is it too late for dormancy? Forgot to mention the sarracenia and VFT are currently in a distilled water dish as well.
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Same for the happy VFT. Should I just keep it in the colder room? If so, should I repot it?
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Does the sad VFT need dormancy or should I skip it for now? Am I doing something wrong? Any tips to keep it alive?
by flexgod12
2 Comments
Hey! I like what you’re doing right now. Since you live in 6a zone I would not put your scarracenia in the garage, it’ll be too cold. They don’t like being below freezing for too long—they’re native to 8 zones which is replicated by putting them in the fridge (DO NOT CUT YOUR PITCHERS UNLESS THEY ARE BROWN BEFORE PUTTING THEM IN THE FRIDGE!) Purpurea don’t need their pitchers cut down for their dormancy and often keep pitchers for a couple years before dying. I made this mistake my first year having these and it didn’t kill em but it’s nice to have pitchers when spring comes around <although someone once told me a these all green hybrids are actually a different scarracenia type I’ll recomment what that person mentioned. >
The dormancy is not required for VFT so you can keep both the happy and sad under a light in a warm place, cut any flower stalks on these while in winter just so you can get more traps as the flowers take up a lot of the plants energy. Wait to repot in spring when you let them outside as they’ll appreciate the full sun when they get a repot.
Good luck! They are so fun! here is my bog I thankfully live in their native climate so these babes get to be outside all year
https://preview.redd.it/kbfdkbws47ag1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=98b7ec14fef7b0f45a407ed891ab5ab38983fcfd
Humidity and distilled water (rain water can work too, but based on location polluted water/collecting rain water may not be best)
You’ll want to avoid most fertilizers with them as well unless you’re really aware of what/how you’re using it.
They’re carnivorous plants and gain nutrients through capturing prey items. Let them work their magic on their own first and if nothing is caught you can hand feed every so often.
Don’t be surprised if/when those pictures & traps turn black and die. It’s normal in terms of acclamation- and will continue to happen as they adjust and grow.
Try to keep their substrate fairly moist- a peat moss based substrate does wonders, but I know of some who use other forms of substrate. Some of which are more acidic than others.